Thursday, 28 April 2011

Cambodia: Ceasefire agreed after military commanders meet

Phnom Penh - A senior Cambodian military source said Thursday that Thai and Cambodian military commanders agreed a ceasefire during a morning meeting.

The source, who asked not to be named, told the German Press Agency dpa that General Chea Morn, who commands the armed forces in the Cambodian military's Region 4, had agreed the ceasefire with a Thai general.

'The meeting has helped to ease tensions along the border,' the source said, before adding that Cambodia remained to be convinced that the Thai military 'was serious' about the ceasefire.

He said shelling had stopped along the border after reports of artillery battles earlier in the day, adding that since mid-morning there had been just a few reports of small-arms fire.

A soldier at Ta Moan temple, the scene of some of the heaviest shelling over the past seven days, confirmed that fighting had ceased in his area.

Thai defence officials were not available to comment.

Cambodian government spokesman Phay Siphan said the ceasefire had been agreed 'in principle.'

The fighting between the two nations has killed 14 soldiers and one civilian, and wounded nearly 60 others.

Clashes involving heavy artillery and small-arms fire had erupted on a daily basis since Friday at a series of six locations on Cambodia's northern and north-west border with Thailand.